Doctor Ariella Zbar, associate medical officer of health for Public Health Sudbury and Districts, said the health unit administered over 2,000 vaccines against Hepatitis A last week.
The vaccines were made available to the public after a deli worker at the Real Canadian Superstore on LaSalle Avenue in Sudbury tested positive for the virus, which can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pains.
The deli meat in question was prepared between November 27 and December 16, during a busy period where a large number of prepared trays and holiday platters were sold.
Food can be contaminated if it has been handled by a food preparer infected with Hepatitis A who has not properly washed their hands.
1600 of the vaccinations, Zbar said, were for adults.
Zbar said that once reports of the infection came in, the health unit was able to engage its incident management system, a way of coordinating a response with several other organizations.
“Something [like this] requires basically all hands on deck,” she said. “So we had our health inspectors, part of our environmental health team to go in and ensure that the affected foods were pulled from the floor and from the shelves.
Nurses were also mobilized to ensure that Hepatitis A vaccines were ready as soon as possible, while epidemiologists searched for any secondary cases after the initial report.
The health unit also made sure to push out its message quickly, so the public was notified.
The health unit will be open Tuesday for anyone who needs the vaccine, but Zbar said people shouldn’t hesitate to call on Christmas or Boxing Day if they feel they’re come into contact with tainted meat.
More information is available from Public Health Sudbury and Districts.
